Justification, evaluation and critique in the study of organization: An introduction to the volume

This volume presents state-of-the-art research and thinking on the analysis of justification, evaluation and critique in organizations, as inspired by the foundational ideas of French Pragmatist Sociology’s economies of worth (EW) framework. In this introduction, we begin by underlining the EW framework’s importance in sociology and social theory more generally and discuss its relative neglect within organizational theory, at least until now. We then present an overview of the framework’s intellectual roots, and for those who are new to this particular theoretical domain, offer a brief introduction to the theory’s main concepts and core assumptions. This we follow with an overview of the contributions included in this volume. We conclude by highlighting the EW framework’s important yet largely untapped potential for advancing our understanding of organizations more broadly. Collectively, the contributions in this volume help demonstrate the potential of the EW framework to (1) advance current understanding of organizational processes by unpacking justification dynamics at the individual level of analysis, (2) refresh critical perspectives in organization theory by providing them with pragmatic foundations, (3) expand and develop the study of valuation and evaluation in organizations by reconsidering the notion of worth, and finally (4) push the boundaries of the framework itself by questioning and fine tuning some of its core assumptions. Taken as a whole, this volume not only carves a path for a deeper embedding of the EW approach into contemporary thinking about organizations, it also invites readers to refine and expand it by confronting it with a wider range of diverse empirical contexts of interest to organizational scholars

Male obesity associated gonadal dysfunction and the role of bariatric surgery

Obesity is an ever growing pandemic and a prevalent problem among men of reproductive age that can both cause and exacerbate male-factor infertility by means of endocrine abnormalities, associated comorbidities, and direct effects on the precision and throughput of spermatogenesis. Robust epidemiologic, clinical, genetic, epigenetic, and preclinical data support these findings. Clinical studies on the impact of medically induced weight loss on serum testosterone concentrations and spermatogenesis is promising but may show differential and unsustainable results. In contrast, literature has demonstrated that weight loss after bariatric surgery is correlated with an increase in serum testosterone concentrations that is superior than that obtained with only lifestyle modifications, supporting a further metabolic benefit from surgery that may be specific to the male reproductive system. The data on sperm and semen parameters is controversial to date. Emerging evidence in the burgeoning field of genetics and epigenetics has demonstrated that paternal obesity can affect offspring metabolic and reproductive phenotypes by means of epigenetic reprogramming of spermatogonial stem cells. Understanding the impact of this reprogramming is critical to a comprehensive view of the impact of obesity on subsequent generations. Furthermore, conveying the potential impact of these lifestyle changes on future progeny can serve as a powerful tool for obese men to modify their behavior. Healthcare professionals treating male infertility and obesity need to adapt their practice to assimilate these new findings to better counsel men about the importance of paternal preconception health and the impact of novel non-medical therapeutic interventions. Herein, we summarize the pathophysiology of obesity on the male reproductive system and emerging evidence regarding the potential role of bariatric surgery as treatment of male obesity-associated gonadal dysfunction

Diagnosis and management of parathyroid carcinoma: a state-of-the-art review

Parathyroid carcinoma is one of the least common endocrine malignancies and accounts for approximately 1% of all patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature published between January 2000 and March 2022 via Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EudraCT, ClinicalTrials.gov, CINAHL and SCOPUS was conducted. Manuscripts were eligible if they included data on adult non-pregnant populations with parathyroid carcinoma. No restrictions regarding interventions, comparators or duration of follow-up were imposed. Single case reports, reviews or meta-analyses were excluded. Outcomes of interest were molecular pathogenesis, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and overall survival. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for observational studies. This review included 75 studies from 17 countries, reporting on more than 3000 patients with parathyroid carcinoma. CDC73 mutation has been recognised as playing a pivotal role in molecular pathogenesis. Parathyroid carcinoma typically presents with markedly increased calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. The most frequently described symptoms were bone and muscle pain or weakness. En bloc resection remains the gold standard for the surgical approach. The 5-year overall survival ranged from 60 to 93%, with resistant hypercalcaemia a significant cause of mortality. Emerging evidence indicating that targeted therapy, based on molecular biomarkers, presents a novel treatment option. The rarity of PC and need for personalised treatment warrant multidisciplinary management in a 'centre of excellence' with a track record in PC management

Conversion from calcineurin inhibitor to belatacept-based maintenance immunosuppression in renal transplant recipients:A randomized phase 3b Trial

Significance Statement This randomized trial demonstrates the safety and efficacy of conversion from calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)? to belatacept-based maintenance immunosuppression in renal transplant recipients 6?60 months post-transplant. Patients converted to belatacept showed sustained improvement in renal function associated with an acceptable safety profile consistent with prior experience and a smaller treatment difference in acute rejection postconversion compared with that observed in earlier studies in de novo renal allograft recipients. These results favor the use of belatacept as an alternative to continued long-term CNI-based maintenance immunosuppression, which is particularly relevant for CNI-intolerant patients, including those who experience nephrotoxicity. These data help inform clinical practice guidelines regarding the conversion of such patients to an alternative immunosuppressive drug regimen.Background Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) are standard of care after kidney transplantation, but they are associated with nephrotoxicity and reduced long-term graft survival. Belatacept, a selective T cell costimulation blocker, is approved for the prophylaxis of kidney transplant rejection. This phase 3 trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of conversion from CNI-based to belatacept-based maintenance immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients.Methods Stable adult kidney transplant recipients 6?60 months post-transplantation under CNI-based immunosuppression were randomized (1:1) to switch to belatacept or continue treatment with their established CNI. The primary end point was the percentage of patients surviving with a functioning graft at 24 months.Results Overall, 446 renal transplant recipients were randomized to belatacept conversion (n=223) or CNI continuation (n=223). The 24-month rates of survival with graft function were 98% and 97% in the belatacept and CNI groups, respectively (adjusted difference, 0.8; 95.1% CI, ?2.1 to 3.7). In the belatacept conversion versus CNI continuation groups, 8% versus 4% of patients experienced biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR), respectively, and 1% versus 7% developed de novo donor-specific antibodies (dnDSAs), respectively. The 24-month eGFR was higher with belatacept (55.5 versus 48.5 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) with CNI). Both groups had similar rates of serious adverse events, infections, and discontinuations, with no unexpected adverse events. One patient in the belatacept group had post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.Conclusions Switching stable renal transplant recipients from CNI-based to belatacept-based immunosuppression was associated with a similar rate of death or graft loss, improved renal function, and a numerically higher BPAR rate but a lower incidence of dnDSA. Clinical Trial registry name and registration number: A Study in Maintenance Kidney Transplant Recipients Following Conversion to Nulojix? (Belatacept)-Based, NCT01820572Nephrolog

Entrepreneurial sons, patriarchy and the Colonels' experiment in Thessaly, rural Greece

Existing studies within the field of institutional entrepreneurship explore how entrepreneurs influence change in economic institutions. This paper turns the attention of scholarly inquiry on the antecedents of deinstitutionalization and more specifically, the influence of entrepreneurship in shaping social institutions such as patriarchy. The paper draws from the findings of ethnographic work in two Greek lowland village communities during the military Dictatorship (1967–1974). Paradoxically this era associated with the spread of mechanization, cheap credit, revaluation of labour and clear means-ends relations, signalled entrepreneurial sons’ individuated dissent and activism who were now able to question the Patriarch’s authority, recognize opportunities and act as unintentional agents of deinstitutionalization. A ‘different’ model of institutional change is presented here, where politics intersects with entrepreneurs, in changing social institutions. This model discusses the external drivers of institutional atrophy and how handling dissensus (and its varieties over historical time) is instrumental in enabling institutional entrepreneurship

Cumulative culture in nonhumans : overlooked findings from Japanese monkeys?

The authors thank Corpus Christi College (Cambridge) for funding DS’s visit to Koshima and Prof. Tetsuro Matsuzawa for funding WCM’s visit to Koshima.Cumulative culture, generally known as the increasing complexity or efficiency of cultural behaviors additively transmitted over successive generations, has been emphasized as a hallmark of human evolution. Recently, reviews of candidates for cumulative culture in nonhuman species have claimed that only humans have cumulative culture. Here, we aim to scrutinize this claim, using current criteria for cumulative culture to re-evaluate overlooked qualitative but longitudinal data from a nonhuman primate, the Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata). We review over 60 years of Japanese ethnography of Koshima monkeys, which indicate that food-washing behaviors (e.g., of sweet potato tubers and wheat grains) seem to have increased in complexity and efficiency over time. Our reassessment of the Koshima ethnography is preliminary and nonquantitative, but it raises the possibility that cumulative culture, at least in a simple form, occurs spontaneously and adaptively in other primates and nonhumans in nature.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

(B)ordering South of Lebanon: Hizbullah’s identity building strategy

International audienceThis paper examines the importance of the Lebanese southern borderland area in the political strategy of Hizbullah's identity building. It highlights how Hizbullah succeeded in its quest to become a major political player in Lebanon by using South Lebanon. The main hypothesis is that this borderland area has been ordered and bordered by Hizbullah to create a common identity among the Lebanese Shi'i population based on a Shi'i religious involvement and the " duty " of armed resistance against Israel. To support this idea, I will rely on a theoretical framework articulating space and identity building and will refer to concepts provided by Middle Eastern studies. In the first part of the paper, I will discuss the conditions of the emergence of the group of solidarity and how it articulates to the religious Shi'i ideology. Then, I will highlight the " lebanonization " process Hizbullah undertaken at the end of the civil war and how during the 1990s it transformed the South into a sanctuary. Finally, I will show how Hizbullah enforced the national legitimacy of its social, political and military actions before targeting the state apparatus

Targets for high repetition rate laser facilities: Needs, challenges and perspectives

A number of laser facilities coming online all over the world promise the capability of high-power laser experiments with shot repetition rates between 1 and 10Ã\u82 Hz. Target availability and technical issues related to the interaction environment could become a bottleneck for the exploitation of such facilities. In this paper, we report on target needs for three different classes of experiments: Dynamic compression physics, electron transport and isochoric heating, and laser-driven particle and radiation sources. We also review some of the most challenging issues in target fabrication and high repetition rate operation. Finally, we discuss current target supply strategies and future perspectives to establish a sustainable target provision infrastructure for advanced laser facilities

Metabolic syndrome is associated with prostate enlargement : a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression on patients with lower urinary tract symptom factors

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined by at least three of the following five criteria: blood pressure ⩾130/85 mmHg, fasting blood glucose ⩾5.6 mmol/l, triglycerides concentration ⩾1.7 mmol/l, waist circumference ⩾102 cm (for men), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration <1.03 mmol/l (for men). MetS has been associated with worse lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and higher International Prostate Symptom questionnaire scores. Materials and Methods: MEDLINE, Cochrane, ClinicalTrials.gov, and SCOPUS were critically appraised for all peer-reviewed manuscripts that suitably fulfilled our protocol’s inclusion criteria established a priori. Meta-analytical and meta-regression calculations were performed in R using the Sidik–Jonkman and Hartung–Knapp random effects model and predefined covariates. Results: A total of 70 studies (n = 90,206) were included in qualitative synthesis. From these, 60 studies focused on MetS and LUTS: 44 reported positive correlations, 5 reported negative correlations, 11 reported no association, and 10 studies focused on MetS and total prostate volume (TPV). MetS positively correlated with moderate LUTS [odds ratio (OR)  = 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.35–1.80], severe LUTS (OR = 2.35, 95% CI = 1.82–3.03), overactive bladder (OAB; OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.6–5.8), and nocturia severity (OR = 2.509, 95% CI = 1.571–4.007) at multivariate analysis. A total of 30 studies (n = 22,206) were included in meta-analysis; MetS was significantly associated with higher TPV (mean differences = 4.4450 ml, 95% CI = 2.0177–6.8723), but no significant predictive factors for effect sizes were discovered. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis demonstrates a significant association between the aggravating effects of MetS, which commonly coexists with obesity and benign prostate enlargement