Fracture of the mandible treatment in a child: a simplified technique

After being hit by a motorcycle a seven-year old boy presented with a displaced fracture of the body of the right mandible [type III]. In the absence of orthodontic internal fixation or ligature wire equipment suture material was used to provide approximation and stabilisation of the fracture. The non-absorbable suture was fed through a cannula which was pierced through the bone on either side of the fracture. We present this simplified technique as a suitable alternative for the fixation of mandible fractures in settings with very limited resources.

An impact assessment methodology for urban surface runoff quality following best practice treatment

The paper develops an easy to apply desk-based semi-quantitative approach for the assessment of residual receiving water quality risks associated with urban surface runoff following its conveyance through best practice sustainable drainage systems (SUDS). The innovative procedure utilises an integrated geographical information system (GIS)-based pollution index approach based on surface area impermeability, runoff concentrations/loadings and individual SUDS treatment performance potential to evaluate the level of risk mitigation achievable by SUDS drainage infrastructure. The residual impact is assessed through comparison of the determined pollution index with regulatory receiving water quality standards and objectives. The methodology provides an original theoretically based procedure which complements the current acute risk assessment approaches being widely applied within pluvial flood risk management

Combined effects of franchise management strategies and employee service performance on customer loyalty: a multilevel perspective

Although franchisee performance is likely to be influenced by franchisors’ management strategies, little is known about whether and how franchisors’ strategies affect franchisee employees’ performance. This study examines the combined effects of three franchisor management strategies, namely innovative culture, support services and autonomy on service performance of the franchisee store employees and the loyalty of their customers. Data were collected from a total of 38 employees and 679 customers of 25 franchisee stores. The study employs multilevel analysis on a nested data-set created by matching customer data with employee data for each store. The results reveal that customer loyalty of a franchisee store is positively influenced by the service performance of its employees and the support services received by the employees of the store from its franchisor. On the other hand, it has been found that franchisor management strategy such as innovative culture and autonomy negatively influence customer loyalty of the franchisee store. The paper discusses relevant theoretical and managerial implications of the findings

Effects of dehydroepiandrosterone on in vivo ovine follicular development

STUDY QUESTION: What are the effects of exposure of ovarian tissue to dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation in vivo? SUMMARY ANSWER:DHEA exposure stimulates initiation of primordial follicles and development of gonadotrophin-responsive preantral/early antral follicles possibly mediated through promoting granulosa cell proliferation and enhancing anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) expression. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY? Ovarian ageing is a cause of subfertility and is associated with poor outcomes of IVF treatment and premature menopause. A few clinical studies have shown that DHEA can improve ovarian response and increase the chances of pregnancy after IVF treatment in women with a diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) suggesting DHEA may help to overcome the effect of ovarian ageing. However, there are no data about how DHEA acts on ovarian folliculogenesis. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION: A cortical autograft experimental model was conducted in six female sheep aged at least 24 months. The period of DHEA treatment in the animals lasted for 10 weeks. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: All the animals were subjected to unilateral oophorectomy. Half of the ovary was fixed for histological analysis as a time-zero control. The remaining tissue was used to isolate patches of ovarian cortex which were autografted back onto the ovarian pedicle. The grafting procedure eradicated all growing follicles and synchronized early follicular development. After a 10-week treatment period with DHEA implants, the ewes were sacrificed and the graft and remaining ovary were harvested. Histological and immunohistochemistry (IHC) findings, accompanied with serum hormonal profiles were compared to determine the effect on the follicle population. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Higher proportions of the follicle population in the remaining ovary were observed to be in the antral stage after DHEA treatment. The observation coincided with an increase in the rate of primordial follicle initiation and preantral follicle development in cortical grafts and the remaining ovarian tissue, respectively. The IHC results indicated that DHEA increased the expression of both the proliferation marker (KI-67) in granulosa cells and the follicular AMH expression at the preantral and early antral follicle stages. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The experimental design compared follicle populations before and after DHEA treatment within individual animals to allow changes over time to be detected against a background of high inter-animal variation. However, since no controls without DHEA were included, we cannot say what would have happened over time in its absence, and it is possible that other factors may have resulted in the changes in follicle development observed during the experiment. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDING: Our data supports the idea that DHEA might be a useful therapy to delay the effects of ovarian ageing. Therefore, it may have a role as an adjunct during IVF to improve ovarian response in women with DOR and as a treatment for premature ovarian insufficiency

A regenerative urban stormwater management methodology: the journey of a Mediterranean city

Urban drainage patterns are altered by increasing urbanization and rapid conveyance and discharge of runoff, leading to increased flood risk, diminish of aquifer recharge and degradation of receiving waterways. These effects are expected to escalate with climate change. In response, alternative and more sustainable drainage practices with a holistic approach have been developed, although their wide-scale implementation has been limited largely due to socio-institutional barriers. This paper presents an innovative regenerative urban stormwater methodology for transition management at city level, containing two main enablers to overcome the barriers that drag out progress. First, a structured set of activities, the 'wheel', to guide and document the process, which is steered by a group of regional actors. Then, a visual and effective set of indicators that monitors and assesses the progress achieved and identifies the strategies to move forward. Its successful application to Benaguasil, a Mediterranean city, reveals that by integrating the views and strategies from actors at different but interconnected scales and following a structured but flexible methodology, it is possible to make progress in only few years and have a promising future ahead. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This research has been conducted as part of the Life+ program project "AQUAVAL: Sustainable Urban Water Management Plans, promoting SUDS and considering climate change, in the province of Valencia" (Life08ENV/E/000099) and the MED program project "E2STORMED: Improvement of energy efficiency in the water cycle by the use of innovative storm water management in smart Mediterranean cities" (1C-MED12-14), both supported by ERDF funding of the European Union.Perales Monparler, S.; Andrés Doménech, I.; Andreu Álvarez, J.; Escuder Bueno, I. (2015). A regenerative urban stormwater management methodology: the journey of a Mediterranean city. Journal of Cleaner Production. 109:174-189. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.039S17418910

Marketing (as) Rhetoric: paradigms, provocations, and perspectives

In this collection of short, invited essays on the topic of marketing (as) rhetoric we deal with a variety of issues that demonstrate the centrality of rhetoric and rhetorical considerations to the pursuit of marketing scholarship, research and practice. Stephen Brown examines the enduring rhetorical power of the 4Ps; Chris Hackley argues for the critical power of rhetorical orientations in marketing scholarship but cautions us on the need to work harder in conceptually connecting rhetorical theory and modern marketing frameworks; Shelby Hunt explains how rhetorical processes are incorporated in his inductive realist model of theory generation, using one of his most successful publications as an illustration; Charles Marsh demonstrates what Isocrates’ broad rhetorical project has to teach us about the importance of reputation cultivation in modern marketing; Nicholas O’Shaughnessy uses an analysis of Trump’s discourse to argue that political marketing as it is currently conceived is ill-equipped to engage effectively with the rhetorical force of Trump’s ‘unmarketing’; Barbara Phillips uses Vygotsky’s work on imagination to investigate the important of pleasure and play in advertising rhetoric; and finally, David Tonks, who in many ways started it all, reiterates the need for marketers to recognise the strength of the relationship between marketing and persuasion