35 research outputs found
Understanding Communication of Sustainability Reporting: Application of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT)
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of rhetoric and rhetorical strategies that are implicit in the standalone sustainability reporting of the top 24 companies of the Fortune 500 Global. We adopt Bormannâs (Q J Speech 58(4):396â407, 1972) SCT framework to study the rhetorical situation and how corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) messages can be communicated to the audience (public). The SCT concepts in the sustainability reportingâs communication are subject to different types of legitimacy strategies that are used by corporations as a validity and legitimacy claim in the reports. A content analysis has been conducted and structural coding schemes have been developed based on the literature. The schemes are applied to the SCT model which recognizes the symbolic convergent processes of fantasy among communicators in a Society. The study reveals that most of the sample companies communicate fantasy type and rhetorical vision in their corporate sustainability reporting. However, the disclosure or messages are different across locations and other taxonomies of the SCT framework. This study contributes to the current CSR literature about how symbolic or fantasy understandings can be interpreted by the users. It also discusses the persuasion styles that are adopted by the companies for communication purposes. This study is the theoretical extension of the SCT. Researchers may be interested in further investigating other online communication paths, such as human rights reports and directorâs reports
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Waitlist and Post-Transplant Outcomes for Children with Myocarditis Listed for Heart Transplantation over Three Decades: A Multi-Institutional Analysis
Outcomes on children with myocarditis listed for heart transplantation (HT) is sparse and conflicting. Our study aims to determine if this population of listed patients have better outcomes pre- and post-HT in the current era given the advent of ventricular assist devices (VADs).
We queried the Pediatric Heart Transplant Society (PHTS) database from 1993-2019 to identify patients with myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Patients were divided into two eras: earlier (1993-2008) and current era (2009-2019). Clinical characteristics were compared. Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test and adjusted using multiphase parametric hazard modeling to examine outcomes.
During the study period, of the 9755 patients listed for HT, 323 (3%) had myocarditis and 3279 (34%) DCM. A higher proportion of myocarditis patients in the current era were status 1A (85% vs 58% earlier era), have lower AST (mean 195 vs. 560 U/L), ALT (mean 109 vs. 277 U/L) and higher eGFR (mean 96 vs. 75 ml/min/1.73m2) (p<0.05 for all) at listing. VAD use was higher in myocarditis patients in the current era at listing (28 vs. 8%; p<0.001) and at time of HT (38 vs. 12%; p<0.001). Waitlist and post-transplant survival has not improved for patients with myocarditis over time (Figure a-b). In the current era, 5 year survival post-HT was higher in patients with DCM vs. myocarditis (88 vs. 79.5%, p=0.058). On multivariate analysis, myocarditis patients have increased post-HT mortality [HR 6.9, 95% CI 3.0-15.6; p<0.0001].
Patients with myocarditis in the current era have better renal and hepatic function at listing and increased VAD use at listing and at HT. Overtime, however, there have been no improvements in waitlist or post-transplant outcomes for patients with myocarditis and post-transplant survival continues to be worse in patients with myocarditis compared to those with DCM