Using R and Bioconductor for proteomics data analysis.

This review presents how R, the popular statistical environment and programming language, can be used in the frame of proteomics data analysis. A short introduction to R is given, with special emphasis on some of the features that make R and its add-on packages premium software for sound and reproducible data analysis. The reader is also advised on how to find relevant R software for proteomics. Several use cases are then presented, illustrating data input/output, quality control, quantitative proteomics and data analysis. Detailed code and additional links to extensive documentation are available in the freely available companion package RforProteomics. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Computational Proteomics in the Post-Identification Era. Guest Editors: Martin Eisenacher and Christian Stephan

International marketing strategies of emerging market firms: Nature, boundary conditions, antecedents, and outcomes

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to publish scholarly works that extend knowledge on the drivers, consequences and boundary conditions of international marketing strategies employed by emerging market firms of all sizes and types; and to advance a narrative for future research on emerging market firms’ international marketing activities. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this agenda, the authors invited scholars to submit quality manuscripts to the special issue. Manuscripts that addressed the special issue theme from varied theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches were invited. Findings: Out of 70 manuscripts reviewed, 7 are eventually accepted for inclusion in this special issue. The papers touched on interesting research topics bothering on international marketing practices of emerging market firms using blend of interesting theoretical perspectives and variety of methods. Key theoretical perspectives used include resource-based theory, internationalization theory, institutional theory and corporate visual identity theory. The authors employed unique sets of methods including literature review, surveys, panel data, and process-based qualitative and case-study enquiries. The authors used some of the most advanced analytical techniques to analyze their data. Originality/value: This introduction to the special issue provides a review of the extant literature on the international marketing strategy of emerging market firms, focusing on summarizing key empirical contributions on the topic over the last three decades. Subsequently, the authors discuss how each paper included in this special issue helps advance the agenda to develop scholarly knowledge on emerging market firms’ international marketing strategy

A national study of patient safety culture in hospitals in Bulgaria

Background. Patient safety culture (PSC) is an essential component of the care quality. An important contribution to the evaluation of hospital culture and the enhancement of PSC is the HSOPSC questionnaire elaborated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Objective of the study. To assess the patient safety culture among hospital staff using the Bulgarian version of Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (B-HSOPSC) and explore the areas of deficiencies and opportunities for improvement regarding this issue. Material and Methods. A national cross-sectional survey was conducted using a special developed Web-based platform. The questionnaire for assessment of HSOPSC includes 42 questions, organized in 12 domains. To the Bulgarian version of B-HSOPSC two new items were added. In total, 545 healthcare professionals from hospitals were enrolled. Data were exported to SPSS 17.0 and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results. In general, results show positive assessments of patient safety culture, regardless of few of exceptions. The dimensions “Handoffs and transitions” and „Supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting safety “showed the highest mean values, respectively 3.76±0.79 and 3.64±0.79, whereas the “Staffing” and “Non-punitive response to error” have received the lowest mean values, respectively 2.79±0.60 and 2.99±0.89. Conclusion. For the first time in Bulgaria the level of hospital patient safety was measured. Special attention should be paid to the staff turnover in hospital, as well as the introduction of a patient safety reporting system in our country

Economics of convention and the history of economies: towards a transdisciplinary approach in economic history

"This introduction and the contributions of the HSR issue intend to develop and to demonstrate the potentialities of the economics of convention (EC) for a transdisciplinary approach to the history of economies. 'Convention' has become a core concept in the renewal of French social sciences from structuralism towards pragmatism. Conventions are interpretative schemes for action and coordination that persons and actors use in situations under conditions of uncertainty. Through repeated interaction they become an intimate part of the history, incorporated into justifications, behaviours and social objects like institutions. In contrast to neoclassic economics and to new historical institutionalism, the EC starts from assumptions of a plurality of economic frameworks of action, of the socio-historical construction of concepts, categories, and data. It rejects dichotomies, adopts a broad conception of the economy, conceives institutional change as the change of the 'conventional' foundations for the pragmatic use and interpretation of institutions. Its methodology is that of a 'complex pragmatist situationalism', dedicated to a comprehensive approach aiming at reconstructing the internal going-on of historical processes. This special issue offers a set of contributions on: the origins of the approach, its methodological standpoint, its possible developments towards a sociology of engagement or hermeneutical concerns, several applications on economic history (notably about conventions of quality and of labor)." (author's abstract

Ethnic diversity in the UK: new opportunities and changing constraints

The study of ethnicity and migration is a fast evolving field. Much remains to be understood about economic, social, demographic and health outcomes across ethnic groups and generations, and the extent of integration and exclusion of different immigrant-origin groups in countries of destination. While cross-national studies are increasingly shedding light on issues of differential migrant selection and institutional influences, detailed single-country studies, based on high quality nationally representative data have much to offer in enhancing our understanding of diversity within and between groups. The introduction to this special issue on ‘ethnic diversity in the UK: new opportunities and changing constraints’ provides a background to the contributions in the issue by outlining key research agendas relating to immigrant and ethnic minority groups in Western Europe. It then elaborates why the UK represents a good case for exploring ethnic diversity and change; and outlines the contributions made by the papers in the issue. We highlight the distinctive features of the data source used in the papers, Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study. We also consider limitations in the data and in the applications in the issue. We conclude by briefly outlining the policy-relevant contributions of the papers in the issue

Factors Affecting The Satisfaction Of Hemodialysis Patients From The Nursing Care Received

Introduction: In the field of hemodialysis care, the issue of patient satisfaction is of particular importance. These patients are users of health care, usually for a long time. Most of them are particularly sensitive to the attitude of the health care system towards them. This requires special attention, especially when it comes to their opinion about the quality of the service they receive.Objective: To study and analyze the factors influencing the satisfaction with the received nursing care in patients on hemodialysis treatment.Material and methods: Documentary, sociological and statistical methods were used in the study. An anonymous survey surveyed the opinion of 575 patients on hemodialysis treatment in dialysis structures located in 8 cities (Varna, Ruse, Dobrich, Burgas, Shumen, Razgrad, Targovishte and Silistra). The data was processed using SPSS Statistics.Results: Examining patient satisfaction as users of hemodialysis nurses, we found that almost all were satisfied (90%). 8.52% of the respondents cannot assess their degree of satisfaction, and 1.74% of the respondents are completely dissatisfied. It is noteworthy that those who expressed dissatisfaction with nursing care are only males. As the age of the patients increases, so does the satisfaction with the care provided by the dialysis nurse. As the time spent on hemodialysis treatment increases, so does the satisfaction of patients with the nursing care provided. Patients with lower levels of satisfaction are more adamant that the nurse can contribute to the quality of dialysis care.Conclusions: Patients on hemocial treatment were satisfied with the care they received during treatment (p<0.001). Among the factors influencing their satisfaction are: gender (p <0.05), age (p<0.001), duration of hemodialysis treatment (p<0.05). Our study found that patients who felt that the nurse could influence the quality of care provided had a lower level of satisfaction

Ontological Representation of Light Wave Camera Data to Support Vision-Based AmI

This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors and Wireless Sensor Networks for Novel Concepts of Things, Interfaces and Applications in Smart SpacesRecent advances in technologies for capturing video data have opened a vast amount of new application areas in visual sensor networks. Among them, the incorporation of light wave cameras on Ambient Intelligence (AmI) environments provides more accurate tracking capabilities for activity recognition. Although the performance of tracking algorithms has quickly improved, symbolic models used to represent the resulting knowledge have not yet been adapted to smart environments. This lack of representation does not allow to take advantage of the semantic quality of the information provided by new sensors. This paper advocates for the introduction of a part-based representational level in cognitive-based systems in order to accurately represent the novel sensors' knowledge. The paper also reviews the theoretical and practical issues in part-whole relationships proposing a specific taxonomy for computer vision approaches. General part-based patterns for human body and transitive part-based representation and inference are incorporated to an ontology-based previous framework to enhance scene interpretation in the area of video-based AmI. The advantages and new features of the model are demonstrated in a Social Signal Processing (SSP) application for the elaboration of live market researches.This work was supported in part by Projects CICYT TIN2011-28620-C02-01, CICYT TEC2011-28626-C02-02, CAM CONTEXTS (S2009/TIC-1485) and DPS2008-07029-C02-02.Publicad

Educational drama in three Hong Kong secondary schools

In 2000, an education reform proposal was announced by the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government to achieve education quality enhancement. Since then, pedagogic innovations related to educational drama have been initiated in schools and inquiries have been made on these pilot teachings. Mostly educational drama was found effective in achieving the reform objectives in these studies, but most of these pedagogic innovations ended soon after and no in-depth examination has been made to address the sustainability issue. This study examines the educational drama experience of three secondary schools. It examines the supporting and constraining factors facing them in continuing these initiatives, the role of the education reform in the change process, and how better pedagogic change might be promoted. In-depth case studies were conducted in three subsidised secondary schools that had relevant teaching activities. Data were collected by documents review, teaching observations, and interviews. The findings were then used to examine the relevant reform policies and measures to support a sustainable pedagogic change. Educational change theories and models were referenced in the study to facilitate a more systematic examination on the roles and interaction of different contributing factors. In conclusion, the promotion of student-focused principles and the relevant education reform measures triggered the introduction of drama pedagogy in some secondary schools. However, the insufficient effort made by the Government on engaging with the sector and its capacity building, and the reliance on a piecemeal mode to support teaching initiatives affect the sustainability of the change. Insufficient support from school managements and the prevailing passive learning culture also contributed in constraining the teaching changes concerned

Data-driven through-life costing to support product lifecycle management solutions in innovative product development

Innovative product usually refers to product that comprises of creativity and new ideas. In the development of such a new product, there is often a lack of historical knowledge and data available to be used to perform cost estimation accurately. This is due to the fact that traditional cost estimation methods are used to predict costs only after a product model has been built, and not at an early design stage when there is little data and information available. In light of this, original equipment manufacturers are also facing critical challenges of becoming globally competitive and increasing demands from customer for continuous innovation. To alleviate these situations this research has identified a new approach to cost modelling with the inclusion of product lifecycle management solutions to address innovative product development.The aim of this paper, therefore, is to discuss methods of developing an extended-enterprise data-driven through-life cost estimating method for innovative product development